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I know this is kind of a lib thing to complain about, but it really is insane how much electoral mileage the GOP gets out of the fact that its own voters don't understand marginal tax rates. (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I see this become apparent on social media every so often and it's really just depressing how widespread the misunderstanding is.

51% of Americans who were polled in a 2021 survey agreed with the statement that "You pay your marginal tax rate on all of your income".

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

"kept Byzantine on purpose." What is the meaning of this phrase?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They mean its kept overly and unnecessarily complex, and difficult to understand on purpose. The reason being because the tax preperation industry lobbies to keep ot thst way because their entire industry is based on it being too complicated.

Byzantine became an adjective to describe a system that is overly complicated and difficult for a lay person to understand the inner workings of. The basis for the word was the bureaucracy of the Byzantine Empire - which was regarded as overly complex and impossible for people outside of it to actually understand. It was probably easier than the US tax code though

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Fun fact! The government of the Byzantine Empire was fairly straightforward. Notably, their tax system was a simple flat tax, with additional taxes levied on landowners based on the value of their holdings.

"Byzantine" became synonymous with excessive complexity because—big surprise incoming—some Anglos just made shit up. Eighteenth century RETVRN bros wanted to trash everything that came after the Roman Empire, and here's where we are today. Neat!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Thanks! 18th century historians making shit the fuck up is not too surprising, but i hadn't heard about this falsehood yet.

18th century RETVRN bros wanted to trash everything that came after the Roman Empire.

Yeah everything had to fit the Gibbons-esque take about falling into "decadence" and becoming "soft" and "Eastern" shudder

It sucks how pervasive that shit is. It sucks that it was still worming around in my head! Lol

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Crap, I have 18th century brainworms to exorcise?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

For these, you might need to undergo a procedure that involves drilling a hole in your head.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

Woo, I always wanted to join the Trepa Nation.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

"Byzantine" when used in this context generally refers to something being excessively convoluted or complex

The tax code in particular is kept overly complicated on purpose.